HERE’S something that gets my goat in a big way: Organisations who purport to embrace the modern advantages of social media but continue to live in the past.

Broadly, I refer to bodies who fail spectacularly to grasp the concept that Twitter, Facebook, et al, are means of communication and are, therefore, “live” 24 hours a day. The key is in the words “social” and “media”, the latter being the more important of the two.

Specifically, I refer to NHS 24, which, for the uninitiated, is an “online and telephone-based health information and self-care service”. In plain language, it is who you call if you are in need of medical help outside of “normal” hours.

Now, my gripe is not with NHS 24 generally and its fine frontline medical professionals. It relates to its management – in particular its communications management.

As I regularly state, like a stuck CD, to those in my circle of influence, social media is a form of publishing. This principle is not overly important for those using the likes of Twitter for personal use but it is extremely so for businesses and large bodies who employ [Read more...]